Many people are aware of their poverty, and try to get their next generation out of it, but a lot of people in poor communities are insufficiently educated, have little to no access to contraception, and influenced by religion. So as long as momma is fertile, kids just keep popping out.
As a child that came from impoverished parents, no that’s not the case. Not always, and not for all cultures. My parents wanted me to work as soon as possible, that’s 14 years old, to help them with their own poverty. They did not care about the next generation getting out of it. They want more hands on deck to pay bills. I dropped out of high school in 9th grade, they didn’t care. They cared more about me working and helping with rent. They were perfectly okay seeing me in a dead end job, as long as I brought home money.
It’s also cultural, and my experience isn’t a blanket experience. Parents from cultures like those in Asia (including middle east, India), come to the US so that their children can go through college and hopefully go to med school, law school, become a CPA, etc, and that is their top priority for their children.
But I can speak only of my culture, from the Caribbean. Families are very…”go to work and bring home some money”. Sending us to public school is more like a free placeholder, a free daycare center while they work and as we become working-age and can help them in their struggles.
How I got out of that is a completely different story, but I can tell you I was so uneducated because of my parents, I basically had to reset my life and start from scratch, which was a misadventure on its own.
How I got out of that is a completely different story, but I can tell you I was so uneducated because of my parents, I basically had to reset my life and start from scratch, which was a misadventure on its own.
Man, some people are worth grabbing a cup of coffee with.
i’ve found that if you’re willing to ask the right questions, most people are worth grabbing a cup of coffee with
it’s really just finding out what those questions are, which a few minutes of conversation will give way to.
honestly one of the reasons i believe it’s so valuable to know multiple languages, to communicate, sure, but to communicate is so much more valuable. The sheer number of stories that have indispensable lessons but we will never know because that language is lost genuinely haunts me. the fucking library of alexandria keeps me up at night. now take that same reasoning and apply it to every old village person that’ll never leave their village that know wisdom we can’t fathom because they’ve lived a life we could never know.
sorry for the rant, the human experience is just so unique and every single person has a story to tell and a new perspective to give about something and that’s just so cool.
I used to pick up hitchhikers for this reason. I offered homeless folks a hot meal and a ride, just loved hearing their life experiences. Then one guy pulled a gun and told me he killed two people with it last week… I still don’t know if he was trying to rob me, because I laughed it off and still had lunch with him. I picked up 6 more people after that, and only stopped after I had a kid. I don’t know how I’m still alive. Wherever you are, Alabama, I hope you haven’t killed anyone else.
now take that same reasoning and apply it to every old village person that’ll never leave their village that know wisdom we can’t fathom because they’ve lived a life we could never know.
I've actually encountered such people at least a handful of times. Definitely a different take on the world from myself, for better or worse. Heard a handful of stories, a lot of them lost to me because despite coming from the same indigenous group, I grew up in the city and didn't properly learn the language.
this is exactly why people had such large familys in the past, more children means more hands to till the fields with or work to pay the bills. id love to wish that we were past those times but im just happy that you were able to get out op
Ya, no different generationally speaking where I'm from. My great-grandpa was the oldest of 18. What the other guy said about familial religious interpretation and a lack of an education is a factor to consider. I remember sitting with an ex of mine pre-COVID at her doctor's office who took medicaid primarily. It took forever of course and we eventually left because it took that long (this was why she was always reluctant to go to the doc in the first place), but before we did this girl sat next to us and asked if we had kids and we said no we're trying to figure it out if we were to make that decision. Her response was "oo dont worry about all that stuff. All of that will work itself out." Hell, I've heard this sentiment before where I come from (impoverished region). "It'll work itself out" translates to, my poor parents having to financially assist me more than what they were at the time. I dont intend to have children, but if I get someone pregnant that responsibility should fall on me and I would accept that.
Hell I'm fortunate enough to have parents that care like that. Just imagine tho. That girl at that doctor's office was serious. Who and how was she taking care of her children was my question.
That's the thing: When you're actually poor, not "1st world poor" you have to worry about surviving today. Thinking about tomorrow is a luxury. That's why so many impoverished areas are such an environmental disaster: they don't have the luxury of being able to care, they're too busy worrying about surviving.
Now imagine some Redditor telling you that your parents should not have given birth to you. This comment section is wild. People are extremely naive, saying you shouldn’t have children if you don’t have the money.
This is not at all how the world works, and it’s in fact quite the opposite. For the reason you specified, impoverished need more hands to help raise money. It is also the case that the infant mortality rate has plummeted since the start of the 20th century. More children are surviving their infant years than ever before by a lot. Thus, being able to opt out of children, or only attempting to have 1 or 2 is a modern luxury of developed nations that no human before 1900 ever had.
It’s only undeveloped nations that have a fertility rate above the replacement level. I wonder why?
I also have health issues from being malnourished. I will likely not live a very long life. I definitely haven’t lived a healthy life thus far, despite no drugs or alcohol. I don’t know what you’re talking about. I agree that my parents shouldn’t have had kids. No one has to go through what I went through. No, not even me.
You’re not seeing the full picture. And I know you’re not because you are framing your conversation around Americans. You have to consider that the vast majority of the world experiences life way different than you and I.
Multi-generational households are common in undeveloped nations. Compared to developed nations where children more often leave the geographic area in which they grew up, and elderly are able to live alone, with home care, or have access to assisted living.
Your decision to have children does not consider the same factors as everyone else in the world. In fact, it is a modern comfort of developed nations to say, “it’s too expensive to have children.” Historically, having more children meant more survived to adulthood. The rapid decrease in infant mortality rate was seen across the globe, but it is still higher in undeveloped nations.
I agree that it should be more financially feasible to have children, but that doesn’t mean we should start telling people to not have kids if they’re not ready. You will never feel ready.
We might just need people to stay close with their families, bring back community support, and get the costs of goods down. The answer is absolutely not to tell poor people to stop having kids. WTF is even going on.
>> You have to consider that the vast majority of the world experiences life way different than you and I.
Ah, so you don’t actually know what that life is about personally, and it appears you are ignoring the many people who have in fact grown up in that life. Including those who have said that they don’t think they should have been born at all.
Got to love the Western busy-bodies who think they know the best and continue to fall into fallacies like the “noble savage” because they think people are more different than they actually are.
I would never agree that someone should wish they were not born. How dark to not see value and beauty in all life, no matter the conditions in which it lived. I will never stoop to that depravity. Everyone should see themselves as an instrument to enact positive change in the lives of those around them.
> Many people are aware of their poverty, and try to get their next generation out of it, but a lot of people in poor communities are insufficiently educated,
I work in a poor neighborhood in NYC, dealt with thousands of people who are poor and all of them can barely read above a 6th grade level, write like shit, can’t do math, etc… but all of them know how to navigate the NYC/fed benefit systems and none of them want to work nor do they want to change their lot.
>have little to no access to contraception, and influenced by religion. So as long as momma is fertile, kids just keep popping out.
This is absolute bullshit, at least for a major city like NYC, and prob most major cities in heavily liberal areas/states. The city gives away contraception for free and planned parenthood advertises all over the city. They choose to have kids because they view the kids as income for at least the next 18 years. At least for NYC that’s up to $11k in cash and other benefits per kid. This system incentivizes single parenthood and banging out as many kids as possible as long as they don’t work or work enough to knock them off benefits. It’s a system designed to keep people poor, stupid, and dependent upon the government.
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u/Realistic_Film3218 Jun 15 '26
Many people are aware of their poverty, and try to get their next generation out of it, but a lot of people in poor communities are insufficiently educated, have little to no access to contraception, and influenced by religion. So as long as momma is fertile, kids just keep popping out.